Swiss Indoors is Federer’s home tournament and the former world number one holds the record for winning the tournament for the highest number of times.
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For the 17-time Grand Slam victor, it was seventh Swiss Indoors title and 88th of his career. Federer is more risky from more areas of the court.
Nadal lost in the final of the China Open to Novak Djokovic earlier this month and showed further signs of his revival by pushing Federer to three sets. He even faced a break point in the sixth game, but come the ninth, he was on the rampage.
It was the first meeting between the two players in nearly two years with Federer ending a losing streak against Nadal that dated back about twice as long.
Nadal seemed in trouble trailing 4-3 in the first set when he called for the trainer at a changeover.
The No. 29 Sock, 35-16 this year, will face Roger Federer Saturday in the semifinals. Against all odds, he kept the fight alive with a veritable array of ground strokes, negating Federer’s ever improving service game.
Often during the more important points, the Swiss suppressed the Nadal threat with a thundering serve. Nadal managed just one victor to Cilic’s 12 in the opening set. However, after securing six of the next seven points, the scores would be poised at 2-2 in the first set.
“He played the second set much better”.
After defeating his German friend Kohlschreiber in 98 minutes with 13 aces and two breaks of serve, Federer was happy to escape with the win.
It marked the third consecutive three-setter for Nadal, who had previously gone the distance against Lukas Rosol (1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4)) and Grigor Dimitrov (6-4, 4-6, 6-3).
“It’s another final against an incredible player”, said Nadal, adding he was excited about “an opportunity to play a match that is special”. The Swiss, who won by 6/1 in the third set, ‘was aware of what David was capable.
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Although making a few attempts, the sneak-attack-by-Roger (SABR), proved unsuccessful aside from possibly causing a mental hindrance in Nadal’s game. In his post-match speech, the Spaniard thanked the fans and praised them for how supportive they were. And showing comic timing as sweet as a few of his shots, he jested: “A little bit less today – but I understand”.
